Owning property and other assets

Learn what you need to do.

Property and other assets (except Scotland)

Land and buildings owned freehold by, or leased to, any unit or area of Girlguiding, must be held in the name of trustees. Girlguiding units and areas are encouraged to use The Guide Association Trust Corporation as sole trustee to hold their property. This is a free property holding service and will make dealing with the ownership of your property much easier for you.

If you do not wish to use The Guide Association Trust Corporation to hold your property, local trustees may be appointed instead (although if a local trustee retires, moves away or unfortunately dies, a new trustee must be appointed in their place which can be a long and complicated process). Up to four individuals can act as local trustees under a Declaration of Trust and in this capacity are known as 'holding trustees'. They are not themselves 'charity trustees' responsible for the management of the charity in the form of the unit or area, nor are they responsible for the management of the property if it has been delegated to a property or local management committee.

Local trustees must hold property in accordance with the Association's standard form of trust deed. All property must be held for the direct benefit of the unit or area concerned. The only exception is property gifted or historically held on trust that does not comply with this.

Local trustees must execute a Declaration of Trust in accordance with the Association's standard trust deed, available on request from the Legal Department by emailing [email protected].

Local Management Committees

A Local Management Committee (LMC) should be formed to deal with the day-to-day management and administration of the land or buildings for which it has responsibility.

An LMC must have a formal written constitution that is registered at country or region offices. A draft constitution can be obtained from country and region Offices.

It is also important to note that the LMC is not a charity in its own right and members of a property or LMC are not 'charity trustees' merely by virtue of being a member of the LMC. The LMC is simply a sub-committee of the Girlguiding unit or area and it is the Girlguiding unit or area which is the relevant charity. Find out more about charitable status.

Anyone involved in the management of a guiding property must be aware of their responsibilities including health and safety.

Property and other assets in Scotland

Land or buildings

Any land or buildings owned or leased to any unit, district, division or county should be held in the names of the following appointment holders as ex officio trustees:

• the county commissioner
• the county secretary
• a division commissioner, an appropriate district commissioner, or the chairperson of the appropriate local association or friends of guiding. Advice on property ownership or leasing is available through the offices of Girlguiding Scotland.

Joint property

Property owned jointly with The Scout Association must be held by trustees, preferably The Guide Association Trust Corporation or The Scout Association Trust Corporation.

The Guide Association Trust Corporation holds joint property in accordance with its joint trust deed of 1975. This provides for the appointment of a joint committee and the basis of a constitution for that joint committee. The 1975 joint trust deed is available on request from the Legal Department at [email protected].

Advice on the ownership of joint properties in Scotland should be obtained from the offices of Girlguiding Scotland.

Sponsored units

Unless the sponsoring agreement requires otherwise, sponsored units should hold land and buildings in the names of:

• The Guide Association Trust Corporation or local trustees, or
• in Scotland, the appropriate appointment holders as trustees (see Scotland, above).

Equipment

Equipment belonging to a unit does not normally need to be held by trustees, except where the title to the equipment needs to be registered, eg motor vehicles. In this case the Association's standard trust deed should be executed by the person, or persons, in whose name the vehicle is registered. This trust deed is not applicable in Scotland.

Details of the trust deed can be obtained from [email protected].

Advice on the ownership of equipment in Scotland is available from the offices of Girlguiding Scotland, by emailing [email protected].

Equipment belonging to a unit or area is not covered by Girlguiding's insurance. It is the responsibility of the unit or area to take out an all risks policy to cover any equipment. Girlguiding's Insurance Service has a bespoke facility with Unity Insurance Services who are able to provide such property and equipment insurance policies.